Master, Please Help Me Break the Love Curse! - Chapter 40

Luo Jiu’s robes billowed, her black hair danced behind her, and the wind roared in her ears, completely drowning out the sound of Shang Qianye approaching.

By the time she sensed something amiss, Shang Qianye was already standing beside her.

Luo Jiu’s pupils dilated as she watched Shang Qianye raise her hand, seemingly intending to lend her spiritual energy. Instinctively, she cried out, “Don’t!”

But her warning came too late. Shang Qianye, desperate to help, had completely forgotten Luo Jiu’s earlier instructions: outside of Luo Jiu herself, no one could use spiritual energy within the Heavenly Dao Brake’s barrier.

Shang Qianye seemed to realize her mistake, but it was too late to retract her spiritual energy. Moreover, with her added power, the barrier—originally only two people tall—suddenly expanded several times its size, completely enveloping the Malevolent Qi.

Now that the situation had escalated, there was no other choice.

Luo Jiu gritted her teeth and turned to Shang Qianye. “Do as I taught you before. Channel your spiritual energy into it!”

Shang Qianye nodded. “Yes, Master!”

Working together, they quickly suppressed the Malevolent Qi surging from the damaged barrier. Luo Jiu immediately cast a spell and slipped through the crack. Forming hand seals, she channeled all her spiritual energy into repairing the barrier.

Shang Qianye withdrew her hands. She had rushed too hastily, and recklessly used her still-recovering spiritual energy. Now, she felt her spiritual energy surging wildly within her, as if it were about to burst through her body.

“Master…”

Shang Qianye clutched her chest, her face deathly pale. She watched Luo Jiu, who was facing away from her, meticulously repairing the Barrier. Luo Jiu’s profile, focused and serene, was both beautiful and divine, completely oblivious to Shang Qianye’s distress.

By the time Luo Jiu finished repairing the damaged Barrier, half an hour had passed, and her spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

The newly formed Barrier beneath her feet was strikingly different from the original. It was black with a hint of crimson, resembling Malevolent Qi, and stood out starkly among the countless golden and yellow Barriers of varying sizes.

Luo Jiu frowned at the Barrier, her expression grave.

With a thud, Luo Jiu heard something fall heavily behind her. She instinctively turned her head and saw Shang Qianye, who had been standing behind her moments ago, collapsed motionless on the ground.

Shang Qianye dreamed of her childhood.

In a small village in the northwest, the year’s first snow began to fall.

Thick, goose feather-like snowflakes drifted down in swirling flurries. Every household in the village lit fires for warmth, and few people ventured outside. Only a handful of five- or six-year-old children, bundled up like gray goslings, huddled together in a narrow alleyway.

“Monster!”

One of the children picked up a stone and hurled it at Shang Qianye, who was curled up beside a pile of discarded junk.

The stone struck her forehead with a dull thud, and a large bump immediately swelled up. The children clapped and cheered gleefully.

“The monster’s got a bump on her head! Now she looks even more like a monster!”

“Ha ha ha! Look at her! So ugly and filthy! Even beggars dress better than her!”

“How dare she show her face in town? Why haven’t the yamen officials driven her out?”

The children’s high-pitched voices clamored with cruel words. Shang Qianye pressed a hand to her bleeding forehead, silent, and lifted her head to glance at them with crimson eyes.

One look was enough. The children screamed, scrambling backward several steps.

“Monster! It’s a red-eyed monster!”

A slightly older child stepped forward, pointing at Shang Qianye. “My grandfather said red-eyed monsters are all Demonic Race! They burn, kill, and plunder, committing every evil imaginable! This person must be a demonic creature, a monster! We have to drive the monster away! Drive it out of our homeland!”

The other children echoed in unison: “Yes! We have to drive the monster away! Away!”

More stones rained down on Shang Qianye. Though small, the children’s strength made each impact painful against her thin clothes.

Shang Qianye ducked behind the pile of debris again, but the children refused to relent. They even advanced a few steps, as if determined to throw harder.

The biting cold and throbbing pain made Shang Qianye’s eyes burn even redder. She suddenly sprang up from the pile of debris, grabbed a nearby bamboo stick, and jabbed it at the nearest child.

The thickly dressed child stumbled backward, blinking in surprise before letting out a wail.

“Waaah! Waaah!”

The other children froze in terror.

Clutching the bamboo stick, Shang Qianye glared at them with bloodshot eyes, her gaze like that of a wild cub in the forest—feral and dangerous.

“I’m a monster,” she snarled. “I eat people! I’m going to devour you all, one by one!”

The children scattered in a panic, screaming and crying.

The icy wind swept through the alley as Shang Qianye watched them flee, too weak to chase after them.

She tossed aside the bamboo stick and staggered over to pick up her round, steaming bun from the ground.

It was still warm.

Though the vendor had been superstitious, charging her an extra copper coin to hand over the bun, Shang Qianye didn’t care. As long as she had bought it, her adoptive parents wouldn’t scold her.

It was a pity about that copper coin. She had saved it up for so long, and now she didn’t know how to explain its loss when she got home.

The snow fell harder and harder.

The road leading out of town seemed especially long.

The wind whipped Shang Qianye’s thin clothes, revealing her slender stomach and arms that barely had any flesh on them.

Shang Qianye no longer felt the cold. She only wished she could walk faster so she could rest properly once she got home.

Afraid to pass through the village, Shang Qianye took a detour, following the ridges between the fields to reach her house.

There seemed to be a guest in the courtyard. Unwilling to barge in, Shang Qianye hid behind the haystack near the gate, peeking inside.

She saw a woman in white robes standing with her back to the gate. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, and her figure was slender and graceful. Her adoptive parents were speaking to the woman, their faces wearing an obsequious expression Shang Qianye had never seen before.

Who is this person?

She looks like a celestial being. Why would someone like her be here?

Even just a glimpse of her back was enough to deeply captivate Shang Qianye. She continued staring until the woman sensed the gaze behind her and turned around, her eyes meeting Shang Qianye’s, who was hiding behind a haystack, dirty and disheveled.

Shang Qianye’s heart skipped a beat, and she found herself unable to tear her gaze away.

Luo Jiu looked back at her and turned around completely.

Though they had never met before, she called out Shang Qianye’s name with perfect accuracy: “Qianye, come here.”

Shang Qianye still remembered Luo Jiu from that time. She hadn’t changed much since then. If anything, she was less gentle than before. Though Luo Jiu’s expression had always been reserved, her eyes used to smile.

“Qianye…”

Luo Jiu’s voice still echoed in her ears. Shang Qianye frowned slightly, unsure how to respond.

“Qianye, you’re awake?”

“Qianye.”

Luo Jiu’s voice, like a clear and calming incantation, instantly brought Shang Qianye back to her senses. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the dimly lit cave walls and Luo Jiu’s worried gaze.

Still groggy, Shang Qianye murmured, “Master…”

Luo Jiu sighed in relief and sat on the edge of the bed. “Thank goodness you’re awake. I was about to send you out.”

Outside the cave, darkness had completely fallen. Shang Qianye realized she must have been unconscious for quite some time.

Luo Jiu reached out and touched Shang Qianye’s cheek, checking for fever or other problems. She then gently smoothed the frown lines on the sleeping woman’s forehead and whispered, “Did you have a dream just now? About… something?”

You kept calling for Master.

Shang Qianye recalled the dream and nuzzled affectionately against Luo Jiu’s hand, smiling softly. “I dreamed… about the first time I met Master.”

Luo Jiu’s expression turned blank. “The first time we met? You… remember?”

Shang Qianye didn’t understand why Luo Jiu suddenly seemed so tense. She simply nodded slightly. “Of course I remember. I was six years old, returning from an errand for my foster parents, when I saw you in the courtyard.”

Shang Qianye gazed at Luo Jiu with gentle eyes and murmured, “Back then, you called out my name and said you would take me away from that place. I’ve always remembered it clearly.”

Luo Jiu blinked, finally realizing that Shang Qianye’s “first meeting” referred to that distant time.

“That was so long ago,” Luo Jiu said. “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten.”

“Even if Master forgets, I never will,” Shang Qianye murmured in her deep voice. “I’ll always remember how you pulled me out of that mire.”

In her childhood, her adoptive parents were cruel, and the villagers were malicious.

Though the six-year-old Shang Qianye never spoke of it, she knew she was destined to live in darkness. Only Luo Jiu, who descended like a celestial being, reached out her hand and pulled her from the mire.

However, Shang Qianye’s dream seemed to clash with her memories.

When she was young… were her eyes red?

Shang Qianye couldn’t quite recall.

Luo Jiu seemed lost in thought, remaining silent for a long time. Shang Qianye assumed she was worried about the Barrier, then realized she might have made a mistake.

“Master, have I caused you trouble?” Shang Qianye asked, lying on the stone bed with a silent sigh.

“It’s alright,” Luo Jiu replied, shaking her head. “You were only trying to help me.”

Remembering the damaged barrier, Shang Qianye quickly asked, “Is the barrier alright? I used my spiritual energy without permission. Will there be any consequences?”

Consequences… there definitely would be.

The barrier had turned completely black. How could there not be problems?

But Luo Jiu had no intention of telling the still-bedridden Shang Qianye any of this. She patted the back of Shang Qianye’s hand reassuringly and said, “There’s nothing to worry about. If you hadn’t helped me, things might have been much worse. But…” Luo Jiu added, “please don’t do that again.”

“Alright,” Shang Qianye nodded earnestly.

After a chaotic day, Luo Jiu was utterly exhausted. She mustered her energy to change Shang Qianye’s bandages, examined her body for any hidden injuries, and after a quick wash, settled into bed beside her.

In the darkness, Shang Qianye remained wide awake.

Luo Jiu, physically drained, fell asleep almost immediately after lying down, leaving Shang Qianye alone with her thoughts, temporarily devoid of sleepiness.

Suddenly, Shang Qianye felt a dense, prickling pain around her wrist. Frowning, she lifted her wrist and discovered that the hidden circle of thorn-like dark patterns had fully surfaced…